Delhi Court Agrees to Hear Rajagopal’s Resignation Plea

New Delhi, Oct 10 (INN): The Delhi High Court on Thursday agreed to hear the plea of Congress MP from Vijayawada Lagadapati Rajagopal seeking directions to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to accept his resignation.

In his petition, Rajagopal said that although he gave resignation in the Speaker’s format on August 2, it was yet to be accepted. He said a member could not be forced to continue if he desires to quit, irrespective of reasons behind giving resignation. He said non-acceptance of resignation was un-constitutional.

It may be mentioned that Rajagopal submitted resignation from Lok Sabha membership on August 2 after the Congress Working Committee took a decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to carve out Telangana.

Justice VK Jain said although it is the prerogative of the Speaker of Lok Sabha whether to accept or not the resignation of a member, it has to be examined whether court could interfere into such matters. He asked Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra to assist the court as a question of law was involved in the matter. Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan is Rajagopal’s counsel in the case.